QSO With An Altoids Tin

Today I had a CW QSO on the 40 m band with an altoids tin! Yes it is true. It is a high-tech cw transceiver built into an altoids tin. The builder and owner is Einar SM5CBC in Norrköping in Sweden. The 4 W transceiver is an ATS-3A designed by KD1JV. I am an admirer of Einar to have built this transceiver with its very small surface mounted parts. My sent report was 559 (peaking 579) and my received report with the FT-817 5 W QRP transceiver and indoor antenna was 239 (peaking 449). The distance between SM0FOB/2 and SM5CBC/QRP is 847 km.

Photo by Einar SM5CBC

The newest version of the transceiver is the ATS-3B. Einar has one in store for his next kit project. Below is an ATS-3B video by KC7FYS.